Brace for supporting lids of display chests



Oct. 23, 1956 J. J. HOGAN 2,767,375

BRACE FOR sum'ommc LIDS OF DISPLAY CHESTS Filed Marci 1 1, 1952 INVENTORJAMES .1. HOGAN T'TORNEYS United States Patent BRACE FOR SUPPORTING LIDSOF DISPLAY CHESTS James J. Hogan, Meriden, Conn., assignor to TheInternational Silver Company, Meriden, Conn., a corporation ofConnecticut Application March 1, 1952, Serial No. 274,452

Claims. (Cl. 217-61) This invention relates to a brace for supportingthe cover or lid of a display chest in raised position. Moreparticularly, the device is intended for use in chests of the type usedfor the display of silverware and the like.

Display chests for silverware and the like generally comprise a bodyportion for containing some of the articles and also a lid portionhinged thereto for displaying other articles. The hinge is adapted topermit display of the contents contained on the inner side of the lid byswinging the lid to an upstanding position at the rear of the bodyportion.

The hinge is usually of light construction as two small butt hingesspaced on the rearmost edge of the body portion. The movement of the lidis restricted as by a tape or web formed from the inner lining materialof the chest. The web or tape is attached to the inside of the lid andto the base and normally prevents the former from falling to a rearwardhorizontal position. Inasmuch as the contents on the lid of the chestare of a relatively heavy nature in comparison with the hingeconstruction the tape is generally designed to hold the lid balancedrearwardly to a very slight degree only, which prevents strain on theweb and holds the lid in a raised position for display purposes. Whilethis construction is effective for an attractive display it does howevercreate difiiculty in handling the chests when opening the same orhandling the contents. A slight jarring movement will often result inthe lid inadvertently falling shut.

Furthermore, chests of silverware are frequently arranged on stands instore windows or in the stores themselves with the back edge of thechest raised so that passersby, in looking at the merchandise, can moreeasily observe the entire contents of the open chest. Such a displayarrangement creates the problem of providing means to keep the lid ofthe chest securely raised in an open position.

One object of the invention is to provide means to hold the lid of adisplay chest open when the back edge of the chest is raised and the lidopen to reveal the contents for display purposes.

A further object is to provide a novel brace for easy application to achest of this general type when resting on a fiat surface so as tomaintain the lid in raised open condition and relieve the strain on thewebbing under a tendency of the lid to fall rearwardly.

These and other specific advantages of the invention will be appreciatedfrom the following disclosure in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view ,of one end of a chest with thenew brace holding the lid in vertical raised position;

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the brace on a larger scale and apart fromthe chest and lid of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view from the top of Fig. 2 illustrating in dotted linevarious relative positions of the two wedge members of the brace; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modified structure of the brace holdinga lid in open position.

In Fig. 1 the body of the chest is shown with a side wall 1 having a topedge 2 and a rear wall 3 along which the lid 4 of the chest is hinged ateach end as at 5. The lid 4 is substantially a duplicate of the basewith front, rear, and side walls at 6, 7, and 8 respectively.

In the base of a display chest such as is used for silverware most ofthe implements are stacked for display in the slots of a rack 9. In thecover loops lib are commonly provided to hold other implements such asknives. The interior of the base and the lid is also provided with acloth lining to retard tarnishing and the lining is extended above theinner edges of the side and front Walls as the liner strip 11 to sealthe contents from the atmosphere when the chest is closed for storage.

To limit the opening movement of the lid and to prevent its falling to arearward horizontal position a tape or web of the lining material isfixed to the rear wall of the base and to the rear wall of the lid. Theweb along the section between these two rear walls is dimensioned topermit an opening movement of the lid to a vertical position best shownin dotted line in Fig. 4. When closed the cloth of the web along thehinge is folded on itself.

With the lid, when opened for display, being normally in the dotted lineposition of Fig. 4 it will be seen that a very slight movement of thechest or its contents will tend to jar the lid and permit its falling toclosed position. Where any force is applied to urge the lid rearwardlyas is normally the case when the lid is weighted by its contents, astrain is placed on the web. The bracing device of this invention isdesigned to relieve this strain entirely and to prevent the lid fromfalling either forwardly to a closed position or in a rearward directionto pull at the web and possibly tip the chest on the rear sidewall ofthe base.

As shown in the drawings the device comprises a pair of wedges 12 and 13preferably in the form of blocks square in cross section and joinedtogether by a rigid connecting member as a stiff wire 14. The device isinserted as shown by Fig. l at the rear corner of the chest at the topof the rear wall 3. A similar brace is preferably inserted at theopposite side of the chest.

The position of the wedge blocks between the lid and base is best shownby Fig. 4. Block 13 rests with an upwardly facing surface abutting theouter corner surface of the rear Wall of the lid, and the adjacentinwardly facing surface abutting the upper corner portion of the rearwall of the base. Block 12 is positioned with a downwardly facingsurface against the upper edge of the adjacent side wall of the base andthe adjacent outwardly facing surface of the block abuts the inner edgeof the side Wall 8 at the corner of the lid. The rigid Wire 14 holds theblocks in spaced relation on each side of the hinge line.

In the detail plan view of Fig. 2 it will be seen that the wire 14 isU-shaped with the legs 15 at each end thereof carried by the blocks sothat the bracing surfaces of the blocks are offset laterally from theWire. It will also be noted in Figs. 2 and 3 that the legs are mountedeccentrically of the axis of the blocks, the center lines thereof beingindicated by lines a and b. The legs are pivotally mounted in the blocksin the preferred form of the device shown by these views and are heldagainst removal therefrom by a friction fit. The blocks are alsopreferably of hard wood of the same type as the wood of the usualdisplay chests and may be provided with an identical finish. Such chestsare most generally provided with a dark mahogany finish and the blocksmay thus be set in place unobtrusively and blend with the finish of thechest. The blocks may be of course made of other material such asplastic or metal.

The brace is simply and easily slid into place and removed laterally atthe hinge line when the lid is in open position. As shown by Fig. 4 inwhich the dotted line position of the cover represents the normal openposition, a preferred spacing of the two blocks and insertion of thedevice causes the lid to be elevated to a more truly vertical condition.Thus even the normal strain imposed on the hinge web is relieved.

Referring again to Figs. 2 and 3 it will be seen that each block hasoppositely facing surfaces and the surfaces of one block face inopposite directions to those of the other block. By reason of theeccentric pivotal connection of the legs of the U-shaped wire to theblocks, each block may be twisted on its leg 15 to provide a differentspacing between the blocks. The dot-dash and dotted line positions ofblock 12, indicated by the numerals 16 and 17 respectively, illustrateby way of example two further adjustments in spacing. Since both blocks12 and 13 are eccentrically pivoted there is a wide variation possibleand a single brace may be used for different sizes of chests.

As a modification it will be noted in Fig. 4 that while block 13 issquare, block 12 is rectangular, but in each case the leg of the wire isattached centrally. Thus, by rotating block 12 clockwise 90 from theposition shown, the blocks would be adjusted for a chest having ashorter spacing across the hinge line. The leg on block 13 may or maynot be pivotally fixed, as desired.

It is clear that if desired, both blocks 12 and 13 could be maderectangular, or that either or both legs could be mounted eccentrically.

What is claimed is:

l. A brace for supporting the lid of a display chest in raised positioncomprising a pair of wedge blocks square in cross section and a stiffwire member of U-shape having each leg thereof pivotally connected toone of said blocks on an axis eccentric thereto, said U-shaped memberholding the blocks in spaced relation for placement of the blocks onopposite sides of the hinge line of a lid with one of said blocks wedgedbetween the rear edge of said lid and rear wall of said chest and theother block wedged between the top edge of a side wall of the chest andthe adjacent inner edge of the lid in open position.

2. A device for locking the hinged lid of display cases and the like inpredetermined substantially upright position with respect to the casewhich comprises a pair of wedge members of six-sided block form eachhaving a pair of oppositely disposed end walls, the side walls of eachmember having planar surfaces and any pair of adjacent sidewall surfacesof each member forming working surfaces at right angles to each other,any of said pairs of adjacent planar sidewall surfaces of one memberbeing engageable against adjacent mating portions at the inner edge ofthe lid and the top of the opposed wall of the case for preventingmovement of the lid to closed position and any pair of said adjacentplanar sidewall surfaces of the other member being engageable againstthe outer wall portion at the rear edge of said lid and the adjacentwall of the display case for preventing opening movement of the lidbeyond said upright position with said members lying on opposite sidesof the axis of the lid hinge, and a rigid connecting member pivotallyattached at each end to a corresponding end wall of each member holdingsaid members to a predetermined spaced relation for placement of saidmembers at opposite sides of the hinge line of said case with a pair ofsaid adjacent planar surfaces of each member in wedging engagement, saidrigid member lying in laterally offset relation to said correspondingend walls, and said pivotal end connections to said end walls beingwithin the boundaries thereof and on axes parallel to said side wallsurfaces.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which said rigid connecting member is aU-shaped wire rod having each leg thereof frictionally pivoted in thebody of said wedge members and at least one of said pivotal legconnections being on an axis eccentrically disposed in the end wall ofsaid wedge.

4. The structure of claim 2 in which said rigid connecting member is aU-shaped rod and the end wall of at least one of said wedge members isin the form of a rectangle having sides of unequal dimensions and thepivotal connection of said rod thereto is on the central axis of saidrectangular end wall.

5. The structure of claim 2 in which one of said wedge members is in theform of a rectangle having sides of unequal dimensions and the pivotalconnection of said rod thereto is on the central axis of saidrectangular end Wall and the other wedge member is formed with a squareend wall with the said pivotal connection of the rod thereto on thecentral axis thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES IATENTS527,274 Fowler Oct. 9, 1894 660,858 Kreh Oct. 30, 1900 907,919 TurnerDec. 29, 1908 1,148,595 Lewis Aug. 3, 1915 1,185,870 Blossom June 6,1916 1,664,174 Hoopes Mar. 27, 1928 2,475,111 Ridland July 5, 19492,522,328 Wiswell et al. Sept. 12, 1950 2,697,494 Parks Dec. 21, 1954FOREIGN PATENTS 675,784 France Nov. 8, 1929 629,963 Germany May 16, 1936

